“You sure you want to do this?” Friedman asked Coleman for the fifth time.
“It’s the only way we’ll catch up with Lee in time.” Coleman said as he adjusted the controls on his hardsuit. Unlike the one Lee had been using, Coleman’s was military-grade, with a micro-rail cannon on one shoulder and a detachable laser rifle.
“I’m not talking about using the mass-driver.” Friedman said as Coleman glanced over at Lall, who was also being fitted into a similar suit. “I mean: are you sure you want to bring that idiot with you?”
“No, I don’t want to bring him. But, Chief Inspector Simpson has made it clear that Lall is going with me…I think it will be okay, though. Simpson spoke with Lall and made it clear that I’m in charge of the operation.” Coleman changed the subject: “I need you to do something while we are in transit. I want you to get permission to reroute a landsat over our destination site.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to Chief Simpson about getting the permission.” Friedman said.
“Time to get loaded up.” The mass-driver’s loading specialist said to Coleman and Lall. Coleman lumbered in his hardsuit over to his capsule. It was about the size of a mid-sized automobile back on Earth. Normally, the capsules were loaded with raw goods, mostly H-3. After being inserted into Lunar orbit, the material was transferred to a larger cargo ship that would take the H-3 back to Earth, or to one of the orbiting or Martian colonies. The capsules were then sent back to the Lunar surface where they were reconditioned and used again. Coleman crawled inside the capsule, and it was sealed. Once he was inside, he could feel the crane pick him up and load it onto the track of the mass-driver.
“Alright Officers Coleman and Lall.” The loading specialist said over the radio. “You are both loaded into your respective capsules, and ready for takeoff, which should be in about 2 minutes. Good luck to both of you.” Coleman could almost hear what he knew was the loading specialist’s unstated: You’ll need it.
After about a minute and a half, Coleman felt a sudden acceleration that seemed like he had suddenly had a lot of weight put on his shoulders. He was oriented on his back in the capsule, with his head facing towards the direction of travel along the track. His feet felt like they were going to pop, and his arms felt like they were going to be torn out of their socket. His spine felt like it was being crushed. Coleman screamed in pain. Then, just as he thought he couldn’t bear any more, it suddenly stopped as his capsule left the track of the mass-driver. The freefall felt glorious after the launch experience. If he had had any doubts about Lee’s commitment to his cause, after that ordeal, it was gone.
About three quarters of the way to their destination, a buzzer chimed, letting Coleman know that it was time to ditch the capsule. The back of the capsule was blown off by explosive bolts, and Coleman gently nudged himself out of it. Once he was outside, he took a quick glance down below. The Lunar surface was far below him. He could see several mons and craters below him , although he couldn’t recall any of their names. Lunar geography had never been his strong point. He carefully crawled along the side the capsule, and placed his feet on the side of it. Then he deactivated his magnetic boots, and pushed off of the capsule, which was greatly amplified by the hardsuit. Once he was about 100 meters away, the small group of rockets on his suit’s back began to fire in a series of pre-programmed bursts to keep him on target, and to reduce the speed of his fall. He looked over to his right, and could see that Lall was doing the same.
“Looks like Lall made it through.” Friedman said.
Yeah, unfortunate. Coleman thought. Soon the main rocket on Coleman’s suit began a steady burst in opposition to his direction of fall. Even with the rockets slowing him down, he still hit the surface hard. He rolled several times on impact, before finally coming to a stop. Alarms were sounding. He checked his suit diagnostics display. No major damage to the structural integrity of the suit, although it appeared that the rail gun was out of commission. He glanced at the tank level indicators for his rocket pack. They were completely dry. Couldn’t do that twice without a two hour refuel in-between. He thought. Lall came lumbering over in his suit, which had a distinct limp. “That damn stunt nearly killed me.” He declared.
“Yeah.” Coleman said without pitty. “We’ve got to get out of the open before anyone shows up.” They began walking to a group of large boulders. They could easily hide in their shadows and not be seen. Once they had found suitable cover, Coleman contacted Friedman. “Is that landsat almost overhead?”
“Yes, it should be overhead now.” Friedman responded. “What did you want it for.”
“If we miss Lee out here, we will need it to find him.” Coleman said. “Remember those rumors about a secret secessionist city?”
“Yes.”
“I’m fairly certain that those rumors are true.” Coleman explained: “First, we are out here in the middle of nowhere; according to the official maps and records there shouldn’t be any human habitations or other facilities anywhere around. We know that the information Lee stole must be downloaded to a black market clone to be accessible, so that terminal is probably somewhere nearby, in some sort of hidden secessionist facility. Second, Lee is a selenologist. It turns out that a feature of lunar geology that they regularly study are known as lava tubes.”
“Interesting.” Friedman said. “In fact, I think it says somewhere in Lee’s dossier that he was studying lava tubes right around the time he disappeared.”
“What’s a lava tube?” Lall asked. Coleman realized with annoyance that he’d been talking to Friedman over the general channel rather than using his implant, and that Lall was listening in on their conversation.
“It’s the remainder of an ancient river of molten lava, self-crusted over on the top as the exposed surface cools. The empty ‘tube’ is then created as the lava spreads out on the surface as a sheet.” Friedman explained over the general channel. “There are a lot of them hidden away under the surface, all over the moon. Most of them are anywhere from 2-4 billion years old.”
“Right.” Coleman said. “So, most of the lava tubes on the moon have yet to be discovered. What if Lee, a selenologist, discovered an ancient lava tube, and, rather than officially recording that fact, he and his secessionist friends decided it would make a good base of operations for an eventual break with Earth? Furthermore, when you couple that possibility with some other facts, it becomes a certainty that there is a city hidden somewhere near here.”
“And, those facts are?” Friedman asked.
“ Two facts: First, remember the anomalous nature of the regolith we collected back at the scene of the original theft?” Coleman asked. “It turns out that the regolith you would find inside a 3-4 billion old lava tube that was covered from the solar wind would contain a significantly lower concentration of H-3. The second fact is the falling price of water, despite the fact that official production and supply has not increased significantly. I think there is a significant supply of water-ice inside this lava tube that Lee found, and they have been selling it on the black market to fund the revolution.”
“Where did the water-ice come from?” Friedman asked.
“I suspect that a comet, several billion years ago punched through the top of this lava tube, depositing the ice there. Then, sometime later, a subsequent volcanic eruption caused another lava flow to seal the hole created by the comet.”
“Is that possible?” Friedman asked.
“Yes, I checked with the people at the Lunar Science Ministry.”
“So, you wanted the landsat overhead so that it could use ground-penetrating radar and thermal imaging to find the lava tube, and thereby find the secessionists.” Lall said excitedly, stating the obvious.
“Correct.” Coleman said to Lall. “And, if you will confirm for me what I think Lee stole in the first place…” Coleman’s voice trailed off. His suit’s radar had just picked up a hopper coming in for a landing nearby.
***
The hopper landed within 200 meters of Coleman and Lall. Three figures emerged from it. Coleman used the magnification setting on his suit’s camera to examine the three figures up close. Two of them were robot, likely tele-operated, and were outfitted with various less-than-lethal weapons systems. The third was Lee. “Alright.” Coleman said to Lall. “Their backs are to us, so we can probably close most of the distance between us before they even know we’re there. You take out the two ‘bots and I’ll grab Lee. I want to arrest Lee alive, so you will not do anything to affect that outcome.”
“I will try not to harm him, but if he resists…” Lall began.
Coleman turned to face Lall: “Lee hasn’t used deadly force yet, and those two ‘bots are outfitted with non-lethal devices. If Lee is harmed by you, I will see to it that your career as a Detective comes to an end. Do you understand me?” Coleman said loudly.
“Yeah…I got it.” Lall said. Coleman could swear that he heard disappointment in the man’s voice.
“Alright, on three: one…two…three!” Coleman didn’t wait to see if Lall followed before he jumped out of the group of boulders they had been hiding in and ran at top speed towards Lee. The hardsuit gave him 4-5 times the speed of a normal human being. He didn’t see any weapons on Lee, so his plan was to grab him and subdue him with the superior strength that his hardsuit gave him. When Coleman got within about 15 meters of his target, Lee turned and saw him. The two ‘bots turned with lightning speed to defend, but not before one of them was reduced to a pile of twisted metal by Lall’s rail cannon. The second ‘bot fired a burst from a sticky foam gun, and a few second latter, Coleman heard Lall scream in frustration as the foam encased his hardsuit and hardened, making movement impossible, even for a hardsuit. As he continued to run, Coleman raised his laser and fired several shots at the ‘bot, until it fell over. After the second ‘bot was incapacitated, Lee didn’t bother to run -they both knew that there was nowhere for him to go. Coleman slowed to a trot, and stopped in front of Lee. “Dr. Andrew Lee, under my authority as an Officer of the UN Lunar Patrol, I place you under arrest…” Coleman’s voice trailed off, because he knew that he didn’t believe in what he was saying. “It’s over…” He added, more to convince himself than Lee.
“Have you figured out what I stole from the substation yet?” Lee asked over the general channel, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that he was under arrest.
“You have the control codes for the Lunar Defense Network.” Coleman said.
“Who told you that!” Lall demanded, still unable to move inside his hardsuit.
“I deduced it.” Coleman said, directing his response to Lee. “I knew that you were probably a secessionist, since you wrote as ‘J.L.’ before you disappeared. You have no criminal record, and I doubt that a man like you would commit a crime, unless he didn’t believe what he was doing was really a crime to begin with. I also knew that the only thing keeping the Lunar secession from being a success was the blockade, which is enforced by the Lunar Defense Network. Since you secessionists are clearly well-funded and well-organized, I didn’t think you would have declared Independence without having a plan for disabling the Defense Network, so your actions must be part of that plan.”
“You are correct, Detective Coleman.” Lee said, then added: “You are also right that what I have done is not a criminal act, because I am acting under the authority of the Lunar Congress.”
“It is possible that I’m wrong and that you’re just a plain old criminal motivated by greed…” Coleman mused. “How do I know that you really are working for the Lunar Congress?”
“What difference does it make?” Lall screamed. “That is a terrorist group!”
Coleman and Lee switched to a private channel, and continued their conversation. Lee said: “Send me a message encrypted with the Lunar Congress’ public key, and I will decrypt it.”
“Do it.” Coleman said subvocally to Friedman.
After a few seconds, Friedman said: “Lee’s telling the truth. He has the Lunar Congress’ private key.”
“Now you have a unique opportunity.” Lee said to Coleman. “Apparently, you must make a choice that may determine the fate of every person living on the moon. Do you choose the UN, and what it represents, or do you choose the Lunar Congress, and freedom? I’ve read your files, and I know that you’ve never cared for how things are going under UN rule.”
Coleman knew that Lee was right. But he also knew that he had taken an oath to uphold the law. If he broke that oath, then what would that make him? He knew he should just make the arrest, but he couldn’t force himself to move forward and take Lee into custody. “I…can’t…” Coleman said to Lee. “I made a promise to uphold the law…”
“I understand.” Lee said. “You promised to uphold UN law so long as you remained a cop…”
Suddenly, Coleman saw that Lee was hinting at a way out of his dilemma. He addressed Friedman on a channel that Lee could also hear: “Let Chief Inspector Simpson know that I have resigned, effective immediately.”
After a few seconds, Lee queried: “So I am free to go?”
“I have no authority to hold you.” Coleman said. “I’m not a cop.”
“In that case, I will take my leave.” Lee said. “We have a military satellite network to disable.”
“One question, before you leave.” Coleman said. “What would you have done if I had tried to arrest you?”
“As a military target under the rules of war, you would have been killed by one of the snipers that had been tracking you ever since the two of you touched down in this area. But, I told them I didn’t think it would be necessary if I incapacitated Officer Lall and could have a chance to talk to you.”
Coleman laughed and turned to walk away.
“What now?” Friedman asked.
“Send a hopper out to pick us up.” Coleman said.
***
The Lunar revolution was almost completely bloodless. After the Lunar Congress had control of the Lunar Defense Network, the trade blockade was ended. Most UN Officials on the moon resigned their posts once they saw that the secession was a success. The few that didn’t resign were given safe transport off the moon. Most of the members of the Lunar Patrol also resigned. The ones that refused were rounded up and shipped back to Earth. Coleman heard that Lall was among them. The Lunar Congress passed the Lunar Homestead Act as its first piece of legislation and people began leaving Luna City to settle on their own land.
“Well, what now?” Friedman said from across the chess board at a bar in Luna City. The City now seemed like a ghost town, with so many residents living out on the surface, and only coming in to do business. The bar owner, a friend of Coleman’s, had just finished complaining to them about loss of market share to the bars springing up in nearby independent settlements. Then Coleman had reminded him that after 15 years of residence on the moon, he didn’t have to sleep on a cot in the back of his bar anymore. Embarrassed, the owner had gone to check on other customers.
“I’m about to put you in check…” Coleman responded to Friedman as he began to move his queen.
“Not that.” Friedman said. “What do we do now that we’re both out of the job? People aren’t exactly anxious to hire two former members of the now hated, and very defunct, UN Lunar Patrol.”
“Something will come up…” Coleman said, as he moved his chess piece.
“You’ve been saying that for a week now.” Friedman said. “My savings aren’t going to last forever, and I’ve got a wife and kid to think of…”
“Perhaps I can be of assistance there.” A familiar voice said. Coleman and Friedman looked up to see Andrew Lee, now Prime Executive Lee of the Lunar Republic, standing at their table.
Coleman stood up, and put his arm around Andrew Lee’s shoulder. “Friedman, I’d like to introduce you to the Prime Executive.”
Friedman stood up. He pumped Lee’s outstretched hand with great enthusiasm. “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Prime Executive.” He then added: “I voted for you!”
Coleman suppressed a smile. He was always surprised at how quickly the legitimacy of the Lunar Republic and its officials was recognized by the average Lunar resident. “The Prime Executive has called in a few favors with the Mayor of Luna City.” Coleman explained to Friedman.
“That’s right.” Lee said. “And I believe he has found a place for both of you on the new Luna City Police Department.”
“What do you say?” Coleman said to Friedman. “Still plenty of real criminals out there for us to catch.”
“Yes!” Friedman exclaimed. “I love catching bad guys!”
